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Liu Zhibang wrote a letter after the meeting, and asked people to send it to the Gu Song, which roughly means that he wants to reopen the border market trade, the Han people fight on both sides, the war is very expensive, there is no financial revenue, and he can't support the expenses of hundreds of thousands of people, especially those disabled soldiers, if they can't get pensions, he is uneasy, and it will also have an impact on the entire army, and the generals of the various departments also know the current difficulties of the Han people, although there are some arrears of military salaries and pensions, everyone pretends not to remember, but how long can this peaceful phenomenon be maintained, Liu Zhibang had to let go of a trace of dignity, hoping to get a positive response from Gu Song.

After confessing to Hong Feng, Hu Chun, and Shanyun, Liu Zhibang rushed back to Xia Yuan City with a large group of people, due to the importance of the geographical location of Xia Yuan City, in fact, the military and administrative focus of the Han nationality was placed on Xia Yuan City, although Huo Wu City was the capital, but the main focus was on industry.

Returning to Xia Yuan City, after listening to the reports of various departments, and when he returned to the study, Xia Zhuangzhuang spoke again: "Big brother, at present, judging from some clues, there are some big families and officials in Xia Yuan City who are suspected of collaborating with the enemy......

Liu Zhibang nodded and said: "I had doubts before, the matter of our cooperation with the Hengchang Chamber of Commerce has not been made public, why is it known by Gu Song, the officials of all bureaus and the servants in the city lord's mansion must be thoroughly investigated, and there must be someone who reports the news...... I will leave this matter to Shanyun to deal with, you have to fully cooperate with his work, and also, you seem to have something to say when you were in the meeting just now, and now there are no outsiders, you can say it if you have something! ”

Xia Zhuangzhuang nodded and said: "Big brother, in the past few months, the Han people have been fighting almost non-stop, the material consumption is huge, tens of thousands of casualties, and the treatment of drugs alone costs a lot, because Xia Yuancheng emptied the treasury before Li Jun left, so that after we took over, any materials had to be re-collected, and the funds spent were extremely large, plus the construction of construction everywhere, the cost was also a lot, and the biggest headache at present was the pension of the disabled soldiers, and the officers' salaries and rewards were delayed for a while, but the disabled soldiers lost their ability to live. If there is no financial source for the family, the number of people affected will be extremely large......"

Liu Zhibang asked again: "Then how much money do we still have?" ”

Xia Zhuangzhuang replied bitterly: "Less than 30,000 gold coins!" ”

Liu Zhibang then said: "How many months can it last?" ”

"Two months!" Xia Zhuangzhuang replied.

Liu Zhibang thought of countermeasures quickly in his mind, while calculating the accounts: "The salaries of officials at all levels used to be paid once a year, but now they are twice a year, but it costs tens of thousands of gold coins to be issued once, and now it is still delayed, I brought back 100,000 gold coins from Dushan City, and it took 70,000 yuan to spend on this time, this war is really a money-burning thing, and you have to find a way to make money......

Liu Zhibang had a lot of thoughts in his mind, thought for a while, and asked someone to find Mu Tong, who immediately rushed to the city lord's mansion after receiving the message.

Liu Zhibang just waited for Mu Tong to sit down and said, "Brother Mu, can you pay the money owed by the Hengchang Chamber of Commerce before?" ”

Mu Tong listened and said: "Since the trade route between Dushan City and Wumang City is broken, the funds of the Hengchang Chamber of Commerce cannot be delivered, I just received a report today, the Qingyun Empire has officially ordered the blockade of the traffic around Xia Yuan City, and all personnel and materials are not allowed to be transported to Xia Yuan City, and I have nothing to do......

Aya had been listening silently, and after listening to Mu Tongxi's words, she interjected: "At present, the roads on both sides are blocked, and the Han people are trapped in Xia Yuancheng, so if our funds are cut off, there will be a big mess!" ”

Mu Tong shook his head with a sigh and said, "The roads on land are blocked by heavy troops, unless you can fly over......"

Liu Zhibang's eyes rolled when he heard this, and said: "It's not realistic to fly over at present, we don't have air transportation capabilities yet, but there is still a way to go......"

"Which other way?" Xia Zhuangzhuang, Mu Tong, and Shan Ya asked together.

Liu Zhibang smiled and said, "You guys look at the map...... Our Fire Dance City is right by the sea, and the coastline is 300 kilometers long, so we can use the sea route to transport goods out, bypass the blockade, and do business with other regions. ”

Mu Tong looked at the map and said: "Patriarch, although there is no enemy blockade on the sea, but the sea is rough, no one can cross, ten times more dangerous than on land, no one can transport it by sea since ancient times, at most it is offshore fishing, the largest ship can not carry ten people, the bigger wind and waves will capsize, and it is ......impossible to sail in the ocean."

Liu Zhibang smiled and said: "Two months ago, the Fire Dance Clan was building a large fishing boat, which can carry more than 100 people, sail for three days, and sail as far as 300 kilometers a day, if the number of crew members is controlled below 50 people, it can sail for nearly 30 days, and the farthest can sail for 3,000 kilometers, you see, it is only more than 1,000 kilometers from our Fire Dance City to Huzhou County, and 2,600 kilometers to the boundary of Mengbo Prefecture of the Golden Light Empire, although the accuracy of these maps is not high, but the error should not be too outrageous, and our ship should be able to transport goods there." And those two places are the territory controlled by the warlords, and now the warlords in various places are fighting, and the demand for weapons is huge, we can sell weapons to them in exchange for funds and materials, and I believe they are still willing to cooperate with us......"

Mu Tong's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said happily: "If the boat you build can really run so far, it will be a great profit, but it will ...... Patriarch, aren't you talking big, a big ship that can accommodate a hundred and ten people sails thousands of miles, if you don't see it with your own eyes, your subordinates really can't believe it......"

Aya and Xia Zhuangzhuang also looked at Liu Zhibang with suspicion, Liu Zhibang smiled faintly and said, "Why don't you go to Fire Dance City with me, you will know at a glance!" ”

Liu Zhibang and his entourage had to go through three days of travel to get to the Fire Dance City, originally from the Fire Dance City to Xia Yuan City just riding a horse for seven or eight days, but now this speed thanks to tens of thousands of people working overtime day and night to catch up, and they have opened up a five-meter-wide road in the mountains. Along the way, new settlements were built every ten miles, each housing civilians and prisoners of war from the surrounding area, with the smallest settlement having 50 families.

Mu Tong kept watching on the horse, and sighed: "Patriarch, this is really a miracle, this road was difficult and difficult to travel in the past, but now it is so smooth, no less than the official road, and the speed of travel has increased several times, amazing, it only takes three days to get to Fire Dance City, I think I have walked for more than ten days......

Liu Zhibang still seemed a little dissatisfied when he heard this, and said: "It's just a few hundred miles of hard to go around so many bends, if I wait for me to repair that multi-functional ancient machine and build a straight avenue for you, you can ride a horse for two days at most......"

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